Washing-machine



Patentedluly 5, I898. A. C. F. WICHMAN. WASHING MACHINE. (Application filed Dec. 29, 1897.)

2 Sheets-Sheet I.

N0 Model.)

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' Patented July 5, I898. A. C. F. WlGJllMAN.

WASHING MACHINE (A lication filed Dec. 29, 1 18571..)-

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

THE Noam: PETERS on, PHOTO-LUNG" WASHINGTON. o. a

UNITED STATES-{PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT C. F. WIOIIMAN, OF FORT WAYNE, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO THE ANTHONY WAYNE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF ST.

LOUIS, MISSOURI.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 606,699, dated July 5, 1 9 Application r1811 December 29, 1397. Serial No. 664,266. (No model.)

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT C. F. WIOHMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fort Wayne, Allen county, State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Washing-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had. to the accompanying drawings, forminga part thereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in washing-machines; and it consists in the novel arrangement and combination of parts more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section on line 1 1 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the machine. Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 1, but with the cover swung to an open position, the parts being partly broken away. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of thecurved pitman. Fig. 5 is an edge view of the upper end ofthe pitman. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the casting carrying the boss to which the lower end of the pitman is pivotally secured, the view showing also the position to which the pitman is held while being slipped over the boss andthe dottedlines showing one of the several positions the pitman assumes after being mounted on the boss. Fig. 7 is 'a frontelevationiof the casting shown in'Fig. 6, with'the lower end of the pitman removed. Fig. 8 is a section on line 8 8 of Fig. 1'," taken through the trunnions about which .the rubbing-cylinders oscillate; and Fig. 9 is a sectional detail on line 9 9 of Fig. 1, showing one end of the slat carried by the lower rubber.

The present device is an improvement in that class of washing-machines in which are employed two oscillating rubbers, the particular object of the present'invention being a general reconstruction as to details by which there results a compactness of structure, a reduction in the number of operating parts, simplicity, an ease in the assembling or uncoupling of the several mechanical connections by means of which the rubbers are oscillated, and by which there result further and other advantages more apparent from a detailed description of the invention, which is as follows:

Referring to the drawings, l'represents the outer casing or tub within which the rubbers operate,and 2 the supporting-legs for said tub. Mounted pivotally along the upper edges of the end walls of the tub isthe lower rubber 3, the same being suspended from suitable trunnions 4, resting at the bases of the depressions formed in the castings 5, which form the lower sections of the bearings by which said trunnions are received. The upper sections 5 of said bearings are secured along the vertical side walls of the hinged cover 6, carried by the tub. Forming an integral part of each section 5 and projecting inwardly into the tub and raised a suitable distance above the trunnions 4. is a boss 7, the said bosses serving as the pivotal points about which the upper rubber 8 oscillates. In order to permit the rubber 8 to adjust itself to the variable thickness of clothes introduced between it and the adjacent'surface of the lower rubber 3, I pro vide the end walls of said rubber 8 with 1on gitudinally-grooved plates 9, the bosses 7 enterin g said plates the full depth of the grooves. In this way,'while the upper rubber is free to oscillate about the bosses 7, itis at the same time permittedto conformitself to the vari able thickness of clothes introduced into the space between the rubbers.

Pivotally secured at the medial portion'of the rear edge of the lower rubber 3 is the lower end of an inwardly-curved pitman 10, the said pitman passing through a suitable opening formed in the hinged cover, the upper end of the pitman loosely embracing the crank-pin 11 of the crank-arms 12, carried by the operating-shaft 13 of the machine, the shaft being mounted in suitable bearings or standards 14', bolted to the top and rear end of the cover. One end of the shaft 13 is provided with a hand-wheel15, bywhichthe machine is worked. Loosely embracing the crank-pin adjacent to the pitman 10 is the rear end of a connecting-rod 16, the opposite or forward end being pivotally connected to the upper end of a rigid arm 17, projecting through the cover, the expanded base of said arm being bolted or otherwise secured to the transverse strip or board 18, connecting the medial upper portions of the semicircular heads of the upper rubberS. \Vhen thehandwheel is turned in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. l, the parts will assume the position indicated by the dotted lines, and the rribbing-cylinders will oscillate in opposite directions, thus fully rubbing and washing the clothes interposed between them.

In order to make the rubbing-surfaces between the rubbers as effective as possible, I make the slats constituting the bottom of the respective cylinders substantially as indicated in the drawings-that is to say, the rubbing-surface of each slat is provided with a beveled medial portion 20, substantially triangular in cross-section, the inclined faces of said portion being bounded by lateral extended faces 21, the slats being sufficiently spaced apart to allow for the free uninterrupted flowof the water between them. The rear surfaces of the slats constituting the perforated bottom of the lower rubber are eX tended outwardly a suitable distance beyond the port-ion constitutingthe rubbing-surface in the shape of arms 22, the latter being secured or nailed directly to the curved edges of the end walls or heads of said cylinder and being of a length equal to the thickness of said heads. (See Fig. 5).)

The object of making the upper portion of the pitman 1O curved is to avoid cutting away a portion of the rear vertical wall of the cover to permit the reciprocation thereof during the action of the machine. The manner of attaching the pitman to the under rubber and to the crank-pin is better apparent from the details illustrated in the drawings. Secured to the rear edge of the bottom of the inner cylinder is a castin 25, provided with a laterally-deflected stud or pin 20, about which the looped em 27 of the pitman is passed. The peripheryof the stud at a point adjacent to the free end thereof carries a lug 28, which as the loop 27 is passed over the stud is caused to pass through a recess or groove 29, forming an extension of the circular opening of the loop. \Yhcn the parts are assembled and the pitman is swung into a position to embrace the crank-pin, the recess 29 will be swung out of alinemcnt with the limiting-lug 2S,the latterserving, under the circumstances, to retain the pitman on the stud 26. The up per end of the pitman is made to partially embrace the crankpin, the balance of the peripheral surface of the said crank-pin being finally embraced by the curved coupling or clamping section 91), the inner end of which is provided with terminal curved fingers 30, adapted to partially embrace the lateral projecting pins 31, carried by the pitman at the base of the portion embracing the crank-pin. The outer end of the coupling-section .39 is directly secured or bolted to the free upper end of the pitman, as seen by the drawings. The upper end of the arm 17 is provided with a stud and lug similar to that of the casting 25, and the connecting-rod 16 is provided with a looped end and detachable coupling end similar to that of the pitman 10, so that there is no occasion to describe these parts again in detail. The parts when constructed as here indicated are readily assembled or taken apart, and a superior and simple construction is the result.

\Vhen the cover is closed, the lower ends of the upper portions 5 of the sectional bearings by which the trunnions of the inner or lower cylinder are supported snugly close over said trunnions, the latter becoming completely embraced between the two sections. (See sectional view in Fig. 8.)

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a washing-machine, an outer tub, a cover hinged to the same, sectional bearings having one section of each bearing carried by the tub, and the other section by the cover, an 'inwardly-projecting boss carried by the section mounted in the cover, alower rubber pivotally mounted in the bearing-sections carried by the tub, the pivotal trunnions of the lower rubber being embraced by the medial sections of the bearings when the cover is closed, an upper rubber pivotally suspended from the bosses carried by the bearing-sections mounted on the cover, a suitable operating-shaft, and intermediate connections between the shaft and rubbers for operating the latter, substantially as set forth.

2. In a washing-machine, a sectional bearing composed of two parts, one part being adapted to be secured to the tub and the other to the cover hinged thereto, the former being adapted to support the trunnion of the lower rubber, and the latter having formed integrally therewith an inner projecting boss for the support of the upper rubber, substantially as set forth.

In a washing machine, an operatingshaft, crank-arms carried thereby, a crankpin connecting said arms, apitman having one end partially embracing said pin, a detachable coupling-section adapted to embrace the remaining portion of the crank-pin, said coupling-section having terminal fingers, lateral projecting pins carried by the pitman below the inner end of the partially-embrac ing portion referred to adapted to be engaged by said fingers, the opposite end of the couplingsecti0n being adapted to be secured directly to the pitman along the free outerend thereof, substantially as set forth.

4:. In a washing-machine, an outer tub, a cover hinged to the same, sectional bearings having one section of each bearing secured to the tub, and the other to the cover, an inwardly-projecting boss forming an integral part of the section secured to the cover, a lower rubber having trunnions pivotally suspended in the bearing-sections carried by the tub, the lower ends of the bearing-sections carried by the cover being adapted to close IIO over said trunnions when the cover is closed, an upper rubber, grooved plates carried by the same, said grooves being adapted to receive the inner ends of the bosses forming part of the cover bearing-sections, whereby, while oscillating about the bosses the rubber may be free to yield to variable thicknesses of clothes interposed between the rubbers,

and means for simultaneously oscillating the rubbers, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT C. F. W'IOHMAN. Witnesses:

FRED H. WELLMAN, J OHN F. RODABAUGH. 

